Patent fight settled between Cephalon, Barr over sleep aid

Cephalon Inc. settled a patent fight with Barr Laboratories Inc. to keep a generic version of the Provigil sleep-disorder drug off the market until 2011.

Frazer, Penn.-based Cephalon announced the Barr settlement Wednesday in a statement.

Provigil is Cephalon's top-selling drug and sales of the medicine may climb to $695 million this year, said Eric Schmidt, an analyst at SG Cowen & Co. in New York. Cephalon is also developing a new version of Provigil called Nuvigil, which is protected by separate patents.

Cephalon also reached an agreement with Barr about Actiq, a drug for managing "breakthrough" cancer pain. Cephalon produces Actiq at a facility in Salt Lake City. Cephalon granted Barr an exclusive royalty-bearing right to market and sell a generic version of Actiq in the United States, effective Dec. 6.